Hey y'all!
Just wanted to get a few opinions on a potential update letter I'm sending to my schools. My cycle is looking like this so far:
29 Primaries (MD only) -> 29 Secondaries -> 4 II's, 2 Pre-II R's.
I've completed two of my II's already and was pretty happy with my performance, and have the other two coming soon. However, I was recently notified that I was awarded a research fellowship award from my university for my research work (tldr: had to create a project proposal and the award selection was based on the proposal and the significance of previous work you've done with your lab) -- I am not sure how selective it is, but I do know that they give out a limited number (I know a few people personally who were not given the award, so it's at least somewhat selective). At the end of the semester, I will have to present the work I did over this semester as a part of the fellowship.
Given that one of the II's I finished was at Creighton (and they emphasized that they are extremely update-friendly post-II), I figured I'd take the time to write an update letter. I personally think that research is one of the weaker aspects of my app (which is why I applied for this research fellowship award). I'm definitely going to update the 4 II schools (the two that I've completed now, and then the other two once I finish their interviews), but am not sure if it's worth updating my other 23 schools that have been quiet. I'm also going to include some extracurricular updates (e.g. I was promoted in my teaching position, picked up a new research project in my lab, started learning a new language, etc.) in addition to the research award update. The rest of the updates, collectively, are somewhat notable, but I think the research award is going to be the most impactful thing in my update letter (i.e. without this research award, I probably wouldn't just update schools on my ECs and stuff). Thoughts?
TLDR:
- Got research fellowship award that is at least somewhat selective at my school, will lead to a presentation at the end of the semester
- Definitely going to update the schools I got IIs at with this award and a few other EC updates
- My question: Is it worth updating my other schools (that have been silent) pre-II, given that many of them are research-heavy (think t20's) and that research isn't a strength of my app (no pubs or anything)?
Thank you so much for your time everyone! I really appreciate y'all.
Just wanted to get a few opinions on a potential update letter I'm sending to my schools. My cycle is looking like this so far:
29 Primaries (MD only) -> 29 Secondaries -> 4 II's, 2 Pre-II R's.
I've completed two of my II's already and was pretty happy with my performance, and have the other two coming soon. However, I was recently notified that I was awarded a research fellowship award from my university for my research work (tldr: had to create a project proposal and the award selection was based on the proposal and the significance of previous work you've done with your lab) -- I am not sure how selective it is, but I do know that they give out a limited number (I know a few people personally who were not given the award, so it's at least somewhat selective). At the end of the semester, I will have to present the work I did over this semester as a part of the fellowship.
Given that one of the II's I finished was at Creighton (and they emphasized that they are extremely update-friendly post-II), I figured I'd take the time to write an update letter. I personally think that research is one of the weaker aspects of my app (which is why I applied for this research fellowship award). I'm definitely going to update the 4 II schools (the two that I've completed now, and then the other two once I finish their interviews), but am not sure if it's worth updating my other 23 schools that have been quiet. I'm also going to include some extracurricular updates (e.g. I was promoted in my teaching position, picked up a new research project in my lab, started learning a new language, etc.) in addition to the research award update. The rest of the updates, collectively, are somewhat notable, but I think the research award is going to be the most impactful thing in my update letter (i.e. without this research award, I probably wouldn't just update schools on my ECs and stuff). Thoughts?
TLDR:
- Got research fellowship award that is at least somewhat selective at my school, will lead to a presentation at the end of the semester
- Definitely going to update the schools I got IIs at with this award and a few other EC updates
- My question: Is it worth updating my other schools (that have been silent) pre-II, given that many of them are research-heavy (think t20's) and that research isn't a strength of my app (no pubs or anything)?
Thank you so much for your time everyone! I really appreciate y'all.
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